It's playoff time, and it's the first postseason experience for this new version of the Green Bay Packers. On Sunday, the team faces the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium looking for a divisional round spot.

I'm trying not to put Jordan Love every week because of how lazy that would be, but this one is impossible. It's his first playoff game as a starter, and it's the beginning of a new era of Packers football, so he deserves mention. Moreover, Love has carried the Packers through most of the regular season, and the team wouldn't be here if not for him.

But there are other important pieces as well, and Green Bay will need all of them to beat the favorites.

Let's check out the five players to watch this week.

Jordan Love

The new Packers starting quarterback finished the season fifth in EPA/play and 14th in success rate. He's second in passing touchdowns, exactly behind Dak Prescott. But the numbers are even more impressive since week 9. Love is third in EPA/play and fourth in success rate. Over the last eight games, he threw 18 touchdowns and one interception. He's been one of the best quarterbacks in football.

And the Packers will need that on Sunday. They will need his amazing production, but they will also need something most didn't expect he would pull off before the season, and that's the ability to avoid bad mistakes and turnovers.

The Cowboys are extremely aggressive and effective taking the ball away, and Green Bay can't afford to give up possessions against such a strong team.

It's Jordan Love's first NFL postseason game, therefore it will be interesting to see how he will react and perform. Either way, it's an invaluable experience.

Aaron Jones

Jones has an amazing track record against the Cowboys. Do you remember that 2019 game? Davante Adams didn't play, so Matt LaFleur built his entire gameplan around the running back. And he delivered with 19 carries for 107 yards and four touchdowns, plus seven receptions for 75 yards. In the 31-28 overtime win last year, the Packers started the game with seven run plays. Aaron Jones finished the game with 24 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown.

Fully healthy again, Jones has been great down the stretch, and the Packers run game has taken advantage of that. In the first half of the season, the Packers were 19th in rush EPA. They improved to fifth in the second half of the year, giving the offense much more consistency.

The Cowboys defense is good everywhere, but the run game is the one area which could be exploited. And the Packers will certainly try to do it.

Jayden Reed

Dontayvion Wicks got all the attention after the Chicago Bears game because he scored twice, but Jayden Reed had an amazing game as well, with four receptions for 112 yards. In this Cowboys game, he is going to be particularly important. Dallas has some problems covering wide receivers in the middle of the field, because their off-ball linebackers aren't great in coverage.

Over the years, Matt LaFleur has been a specialist in putting defenses in conflict, allowing bad matchups to exploit linebackers creating good matchups for the offense. And as a slot receiver, Reed will be closer to the middle of the field anyway, which will allow him to be a primary option for those plays.

Jayden Reed led the Packers in the 2023 regular season in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns (tied with Romeo Doubs), big-play receptions, and yards after the catch. He's already a big-time weapon.

Kenny Clark

The defensive tackle had never surpassed six sacks in a season. In 2023, he had 7.5 — third in the team, behind Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. He had 61 total pressures.

That effectiveness shows what the Packers expect from Clark, who's been in the NFL since 2016 but is still 28 years old. Green Bay's defensive line is built to penetrate. Eventually, they will give up some big run plays, but the main idea is to blow up the pocket from inside, and they've been able to do it at a pretty high level.

There are other pieces doing this, like Devonte Wyatt and rookies Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden, but nobody on the roster does this better than Clark. As the Cowboys don't have a strong run game, it could be a perfect game to be even more aggressive to apply pressure over the middle.

Quay Walker

The Packers might try to attack the middle of the field, but the Cowboys like to do it as well. Jaire Alexander (who might play, but didn't practice on Thursday because of a new ankle injury) may be responsible to cover CeeDee Lamb, but the Packers are a zone-heavy team.

Eventually, wide receivers will cross the middle and linebackers will have to be effective passing responsibilities. Second-year linebacker Quay Walker has been good as a run defender and blitzer, but his coverage skills are lacking.

The Cowboys will certainly exploit that, but a strong game from the former first-round pick would go a long way in allowing the Packers defense to limit what Dallas can do and how efficient they will be.

Packers matchup preview: Five questions about the Cowboys

Dallas and Green Bay face off in the wild card round